Biden: Selma beatings shaped him, nation

U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., points to where he and others were beaten 48 years ago when they tried to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge during a civil rights march in Selma, Ala., Sunday, March 3, 2013. At rear is Vice President Joe Biden. At left is U/S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., Jesse Jackson is second from left. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

SELMA, Ala. (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden said nothing shaped his consciousness more than seeing TV footage of voting rights marchers being beaten by state troopers on Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965.

Biden traveled to Selma on Sunday to participate in the Bridge Crossing Jubilee. The event commemorates the 1965 march, which prompted Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act and add millions of African-Americans to Southern voter rolls.

Biden said the beatings became a moment of clarity for the nation and made people realize the right to vote was not settled. Biden said challenges against voting for all continues today with the enactment of voter ID laws and restrictions on early voting.

After Biden’s speech, he planned to participate in a re-enactment of the march across the bridge.